Trendil's Story part 41 - The Fruits of Rumor
Entry posted by jfraser in Trendil's Story
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The one good thing about being a regular soldier in Company D was that their commanding officer thought of them as little more than servants and treated them as such. Including, while Cuss and Happy were on guard duty outside the thin door to his office, talking freely to his favorite nephew.
“Ah, Francis. Have a seat, won’t you? Care for a drink?”
“I…thank you, Uncle.”
“Of course. You are my favorite nephew. Have I ever told you that? It is true. Here.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“How is your mother?”
“I…she is fine. She said to tell you the pot is pitch black. Whatever that means.”
“Of course she did. Do not fret, it is just a childhood joke between the two of us, stemming from her jealousy of me. It is not important. I suppose you have heard the rumors about our plans to use the war to take over several key mines throughout Skyrim?”
“Yes! Lies that I have been stamping out whenever I hear them!”
“Ah. I appreciate your zeal, Francis, but, as it happens, that rumor is true.”
“I…what?”
“If I ever find out who leaked our plan, I’ll give him the same thing I gave that skeever!”
“They probably won’t be small enough for you to squish under your boot.”
“Shut up, Francis! This rumor is a disaster. Now the Silver-Bloods have allied with the Battle-Borns against us and even the Back-Briars have been complaining to father. The whole plan has fallen apart and now I’m stuck playing soldier for who knows long.”
Out in the hall, Cuss smiled.
“It wasn’t me!”
“I know it wasn’t you, Francis. You have always been my favorite nephew. I like you more than my brothers, for that matter.” A sigh. “Well, maybe we can still go forward with the plan. When we get sent into the field, we can take the mines no matter who says otherwise and they won’t be in a position to stop us. At the very least, we can get our miners in there to pull out what we can before we’re forced to give them back. And maybe we can ransom them back.”
“As you say, Uncle.”
“It’s not like we could have put the plan in place yet, anyway. Not while the army is just sitting around here in Windhelm.”
“Maybe things will get moving when the Jagged Crown is found?”
“If it really exists, maybe. It is the kind of thing commoners like to rally around, after all. That’s why they’re so easy to lead – they see a crown, they start kneeling. Still, if it does exist, the Company that retrieves it will likely be rewarded. Including a promotion for its leader.”
“So you believe your Company will be the ones chosen for this honor?”
“Of course, my Company. Who else is qualified? Mine is the only one that has practical experience! The others just ‘practice’ while we have been putting our lives on the line every single day guarding the walls!”
“I…would have guessed Company C, but they’re on a patrol right now. As I should know, since I’m supposed to be with them. And I think Galmar wants this done as soon as possible.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, Francis. I needed you here so I pulled some strings. I wish you would just apply to transfer to Company D.”
“I can’t, Uncle. You’re the one who told me we need at least one Grey-Mane in every Company and I’m the only one in C.”
“Yes, I noticed. Strange how that worked out. There were supposed to be five other Grey-Manes in Company C but somehow they mysteriously got re-assigned.” A snort. “Bloody Battle-Borns.”
“Battle-Borns? They aren’t in the Stormcloaks – how could they have had anything to do with it?”
“Oh, my sweet innocent nephew. There are plenty of Battle-Borns in the Stormcloaks, just as there are many Grey-Manes in the Imperials. They use different names, of course, to keep up the public perception. But there is money to be made on both sides of this war and it would be foolish not to put yourself in a position to profit from both sides.”
“But…but the Battle-Borns…”
A sigh. “Okay, I’ll tell you the secret because I trust you. You have earned the right to know. But you must swear not to tell another soul.”
“Of…of course, Uncle!”
“When we all learned there was going to be a civil war, my father and Olfrid Battle-Born drew straws to decide which family would publicly side with which side of the war.”
“I…what?!”
“It is as I told you – there is money to be made here. Of course, we’re still against the Battle-Borns because we want to make more money than they do, but it’s not the all-out fight you have been led to believe.”
“But we were told…”
“Yes, I’m sorry, nephew. Obviously, this had to be kept secret from even the…more distant relatives. The more ears to hear, the more mouths to speak, as they say. I am taking a big risk in telling you, for this very reason.”
“I won’t tell anyone!”
“I know you won’t. That’s why you have always been my favorite nephew. Which brings me to why I pulled you from your patrol. For which, you are welcome, by the way – I can’t imagine how boring those must be.”
“I…no, I enjoy them.”
“Do you.” A sniff. “Anyway, I need you to find out who spilled our plan to use the war to take over the mines.”
A pause.
“I…how do I do that?”
“How should I know? Figure it out! Go…talk to the commoners, ask them who told them, then go find that person and ask the same thing. It had to leak from someone – follow the chain upward and find out who.”
“I…of course, Uncle. I will find out for you.”
“I know you will.”
Another pause.
“Well?”
“Hmm?”
“What are you waiting for? Go!”
“Oh! Of course! Sorry, Uncle.”
Footsteps, then the door opened and Wooly stepped out, paused a moment, then turned left and hurried down the hall while the door closed behind him and Cuss’ smile turned into a wide grin.
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This is just a divider, there is more below
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It was not Company A, C, or D that had the honor of accompanying Galmar to reclaim the Jagged Crown; the former two because they were on patrol, the latter because…well, they were Company D. Cuss watched from his spot on the wall as Company E passed through the gate and over the massive causeway linking the city to the road with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, the war was progressing much faster than before – they were still over a year and a half away from when the crown was captured last time. WIth it, recruiting would skyrocket. If it was anything like last time, at least. On the other hand, Cuss was stuck on this stupid wall while others did the real work.
The crown had been Trendil’s second big achievement leading to her second promotion. Cuss had not even had the opportunity to get his first one. And there was the question of whether Company E would even succeed - last time, Trendil had been there to fend off the Shouts of the king-turned-draugr at the end. Cuss doubted anyone in Company E could accomplish the same.
Cuss sighed as the last row of soldiers passed under the gate. He had accomplished his first two goals, at least after a fashion – Jaunty’s mine scheme seemed dead in the water and the Stormcloaks were on their way to pick up the Jagged Crown. Even if Cuss wasn’t personally being recognized for them, all that really mattered was that they were done. The goal was to finish the war as quickly as possible, not pile as many lauds as possible on himself.
Still, it would have been nice to be able to take a more active role.
The next step was Whiterun. Last time, she and Bent had found a weak spot in their defenses that they were able to exploit. That same spot would likely still be there, but it would be much harder to get someone to listen to him on that topic – songs about weaknesses in walls were probably not going to be enough! He would have to find a way to get it done on his own. After some thought, he decided the best place to start was to get to know the engineers. If he had them on his side, maybe he could convince them to knock down that particular section of wall.
He wasn’t sure how to accomplish the part after that, but that was for another time – once he was able to get the engineers on his side, he would worry about the strike squad needed to exploit it. One step at a time, he was going to win this bloody war. No matter what it took.
Edited by jfraser
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